1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an emergency vehicle control device that automatically stop a vehicle when an emergency situation occurs which makes it difficult for a driver to continue driving while the vehicle is running.
2. Description of the Related Art
An emergency situation which makes it difficult for a driver to continue driving, for instance, illness of the driver may suddenly occur in the vehicle. To cope with such a situation, devices have been developed that, when it is difficult for the driver to continue driving, stops the vehicle automatically. In such devices, accidental activation of automatic vehicle stop control has to be avoided by appropriately determining that the driver is in a state that makes it difficult to continue driving. For instance, International Publication No. WO 2013/008300 discloses a device that, in the case where a predetermined switch is operated by a driver and a change in the expressions (such as closing eyelids) of the driver is detected, estimates that the driver is in a state that makes it difficult to continue driving.
Illness of the driver may occur in various forms. Thus, it is useful to prepare a method for estimating that the driver is in a state that makes it difficult to continue driving, other than the method proposed in International Publication No. WO 2013/008300. In the method, it is desirable to easily and accurately estimate a state that makes it difficult to continue driving.